Naked Man Moleskin

It was back around Memorial Day and YHC was perusing through F3 Nation’s Twitterverse and seeing a lot of coordination of workouts in other regions. Most of them were OYO because of COVID, but it made me reflect on the time that had passed since F3 Naperville had a big “holiday celebration.” At the time, there were of course tons of unknowns because we were still SIPO but I decided to claim all Q spots for 7/4/2020 in an effort to pursue some type of fun workout challenge for our region. At a minimum, all PAX would perform some type of common workout OYO (1776, Clovis WOD, etc) and we would have that connection to commemorate July 4th this year. At a maximum, we’d be able to have a big all-AO Convergence and have a special morning.

As weeks passed and Illinois began re-opening, and F3 Naperville re-opened, and nearly 100 PAX were out posting ITG every day, it became clear(er) that a Convergence may be entirely possible. What’s a Convergence? A Convergence, in our world, is when all the PAX come together at a single AO for a workout. We close the other AO’s and we converge. Guys from Oswego, Plainfield, Aurora, Lisle, Naperville, Woodridge, etc all at one workout! When 2020 began, our SLT (Shared Leadership Team) had grand plans for Convergences and had even begun to schedule them for a quarterly frequency because they are special events and without fail have always built or renewed energy amongst the GenPax.

We are host to men of all creeds and ideologies, different home environments, different belief systems, and all different comfort levels with this COVID pandemic. A few weeks out, YHC had tested out the idea of a Convergence with a few PAX and some members of our SLT. The idea was generally well-received with the underlying focus of doing something that was as safe and responsible as possible for all. I took that responsibility seriously from the get-go and knew I had all the space I needed at The Outpost fields to do so.

I recognized that most of our Convergences have had an element of competition included, but that was going to prove more difficult this time around as I wanted to focus on keeping groups on the smaller side as well as sufficiently spaced out. Also, didn’t have much interest in Pax trying to count a bunch of poor form reps or run a bunch of miles and have the 6 left behind and all other dynamics that can come with a competition. Or I just wasn’t creative enough. Either way, goal was to keep this simple, keep the groups small, make the workout difficult, and let everyone get out what they put in. I think this worked out pretty well. The groups had about 12 Pax per team which was perfect. Each station had a ton of space to do the work so each Pax should have felt comfortable at all times. Feedback so far confirms that the workouts were difficult. #TClaps to Appletini being my sounding board on a lot of the planning!!

Whew, what a fun fun morning. Convergences are friggin fun!!! Convergences have the opportunity to be really special for a few reasons. The first are self-explanatory. They are a chance for men from all over our region to come together. When we have AO’s that are separated by upwards of 45 minutes, there’s plenty of men who only know other Pax by a Slack name. Bringing them together allows Pax to meet new guys or get to see someone they hadn’t seen in a while. Plus, circling up with 80 other guys for a workout is unique and brings a special energy. The hype in the air was PALPABLE!!

Convergences also come with their own energy and often their own hype. There’s an energy that gets created around these events that’s unlike a normal Tuesday morning Iron Lion beat down. Hell, we created a special logo for this one!! Tailspin was even willing to come out and play with his drone as well – capturing video and photos from high above that will cement the memories of this morning in many’s minds. It’ll also help F3 Naperville keep pace with the rest of F3 Nation. If you’re on Twitter you see what other regions are doing, how quickly they’re growing, when they accomplish a milestone, when they do a CSAUP-event, etc. For me, that fires me up to try and chase that down and keep F3 Naperville relevant in the eyes of F3N. As the best region in all of F3 Nation, a Convergence of 80 PAX on the 4th of July IN THE MIDDLE OF A PANDEMIC is is major shot across the bow that we’re still here! We’re still out here doing tough things, and cool shit, and having all sorts of fun the whole time!!

Lastly, there’s also a connection piece to a convergence. A Convergence could be viewed as a CSAUP event. It’s usually a longer workout than any normal posts. It usually has some type of team or competition element. While there wasn’t an over-arching competition, each small group team bonded by working hard together, figuring out what each station’s goal was, etc. Now, I believe it’s been proven by #science that people that do difficult CSAUP events together create a special bond upon completing. Well the mumblechatter around the coffee pots would echo that as well – full of recapping the difficult morning, or sharing a story about an exercise they hadn’t done in forever (Zombie Walks!) or guys planning their next Q (Hootie and House Arrest claimed the wooden beams for something coming up!).

Alright, that’s a wrap. Convergences are special. This one was no different. It was an honor to plan it and to see and hear how much fun the Pax had this morning. Planning this one for a large group, and being ever mindful of what we are going through at our homes and in our community, was a fun journey. To see the HC’s roll in throughout the week was fun. To tinker with the workouts with Appletini was fun. Making the signs, gathering flags, coordinating cones and megaphones, working on an Onsite Coffeeteria plan (TClaps FIB and AFib!!) so the Pax could enjoy some 2ndF immediately following was fun. Hearing the drone buzz overhead was fun. Having our Nant’an get up and say a few words to a big group was fun! Brick singing the National Anthem, are you kidding me with those goose bumps!!! Knowing that our IG and Twitter accounts would soon be blowing up with all sorts of photos and videos for all of F3N to see and hear was fun! So. Much. Fun. Thank you for listening. Let’s do it again soon.

#SYITG #GetSome
Love,
Uncle Rico